Life Satisfaction and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among US Adults

Psychosocial factors such as life satisfaction may influence health-promoting and health-harming behaviors. While several studies explored socioeconomic, socio-ecological, and socio-cognitive determinants of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, a direct link between SSB and life satisfaction, especially among adults, remains an area less visited. This paper aimed to investigate whether life satisfaction was associated with SSB consumption among U.S. adults in a nationally representative sample. Data on 25,532 adults were from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey that included responses on life satisfaction levels and frequency of SSB consumption. We estimated a two-part model entailing a binary choice model in the first part and a generalized linear model with a log link function and Poisson distribution in the second part to assess the monthly SSB consumption frequency. Compared to adults with low life satisfaction, monthly average SSB consumption was 3.58 (95% CI: -5.54, -1.63) units lower among adults with high life satisfaction after accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics. The relationship was particularly evident among adults from higher socioeconomic status groups, manifested by income and educational attainment. These findings indicate opportunities to explore the potential role of psychosocial factors as complements to traditional measures (e.g., tax policies or awareness campaigns) for curbing SSB consumption at the population level.